Is there a client side work-around for a too-short auto logout from an SSH connection?

linux bash ssh sshd logout

7,270

Solution 1

Is it bash's TMOUT, or ssh? If it's TMOUT, there are a couple options listed here.

-Erik

Add this line to $HOME/.ssh/config on the SSH client side:

ServerAliveInterval 60

Adjust the interval (60) to whatever works for your situation. See the man pages for details.

I hope it helps.

7,270

Programmer, researcher, and church organist.

Updated on September 18, 2022

Camille Goudeseune almost 2 years

I SSH from one Linux host to another Linux host that I don't administer. Its /etc/ssh/sshd_config is apparently configured to auto-logout after an interval of inactivity that is too brief for my taste (How do I enable auto-logout of Interactive ssh logins after one hour).

Is there any way to keep my SSH session alive, perhaps by sending or receiving a newline character every two minutes?

Workarounds like while true { echo ' '; sleep 120 } were common in the days of dialup modems).

FWIW, Windows' PuTTY isn't involved at all.
- Erik Bennett about 7 years
  
  Is it bash's TMOUT, or ssh?
- Camille Goudeseune about 7 years
  
  Well, ssh to other hosts doesn't time out. And $TMOUT isn't defined.
- Camille Goudeseune about 7 years
  
  Hm, that led me to unix.stackexchange.com/questions/222283/… . Post something like that as an answer, and I'll accept it.
fixer1234 about 7 years

Thanks for closing the loop on your question. Could you add a sentence or two to explain what this does?
Camille Goudeseune about 7 years

It's ssh, not TMOUT.
Camille Goudeseune over 6 years

This answers a different question. The original question is about what to do when you can't change the target host's configuration.